Jorune: Strange Allies Sequence 1.2

The party wings its way west, mounted on the backs of eyeless dog-snake bipeds with wings called talmaron. Domesticated talmaron are usually quartered in aeries, so that the take-off can involve less flapping of wings for take-off...that frantic flapping to gain altitude has a tendency of throwing riders. Each talmaron bears a harness consisting of a saddle with belt, reins, and long sleeves for the legs with a series of buckles you can use the strap yourself in, anywhere from the ankles all the way up to the thighs.

Buckling yourself in provides security from falling when flying, but prevents a lot of movement, so long flights require people to unbuckle in order to flex and stretch the legs. Experienced talmaron riders do a variety of things, from strapping in just the ankles to allow for the legs to move a bit more freely, to buckling only one leg at a time.

In terms of behavior, talmaron are more like eagles than falcons or bats; they prey on creatures on land or in the water, rather than catching and eating other flying creatures. So while they can engage in fast aerial maneuvers, it is rare for them to switch direction abruptly or go into really steep dives.

The spires of Ardoth and the glittering Ardoth Bay recede behind you as you ride the air toward the dark band of Glounda Forest on the horizon.

With you are:
* Barragar, the boccord shadow warrior from Glounda (Starhelm's character, currently an NPC)
* Miniri, the crugar querrid (Qralloq)
* Marik, the muadra caji (Naatkinson)
* Gythaar, the crugar condrij (Jabes.plays.RPG)
* Vordenir, the bronth soldier (CouchLord0510)
* Yongap, the muadra sailor (CancerMan)

Marik, as it turns out, thoroughly enjoys his flight, watching the world fly by before him. He spends his flight trying to see if he recognizes any of the features of the land from his previous travels or any reading he's done.

Yongap, Gythaar, and Marik are all able to correct their flight direction to steer toward the next landing platform, though many of them see a wide clearing that has room enough to land and do a running take-off again. Vordenir identifies a giant tree that he's sure the talmaron could land in, too.

It will take a bit longer to arrive at the platform, but you can land in the clearing or on the tree now.

The riders are able to pull their mounts' heads away to circle and land in turn, except for Yongap's talmaron, who tries to land before Barragar's mount despite the muadra's best efforts. The talmaron lock necks and snap at each other, and you each are uncomfortably reminded by the snapping jaws that talmaron prey are usually creatures about your size. Yongap's mount ends up with some gashes for its efforts, and it lies down, exhausted and licks its wounds.



The platform is really a house on stilts above the forest canopy, with the upper level being the landing platform, the floor below that pens for the creatures, and the floor below that simple lodgings for travelers: small cubicles with mats to use as bedrolls surrounding a central common room with a fire pit and more mats for seating around low trestle tables. The talmaron beasters are not happy with Yongap for his handling of his mount and cast resentful looks in his direction as they tend to the animal, which is now irritable and snappish.

The smell of pibber being roasted over the fire draws the hungry travelers down vertiginous stairs on the outside of the building, far above the forest floor. On the "people" level, there are a few other travelers already there, but plenty of room for the party.

The travelers introduce themselves as you settle around the fire pit to enjoy the roast pibber.
There's the human merchant, Hentak Xerxes, and his human bodyguard, Elonpo. He's looking to sell his wares in Kaigon.
There's the human Iscin, Gaul Virigiskit. He's doing a tour of Glounda for some reason that makes your eyes glaze over shortly after he starts talking about it.
There's the woffen sailor, Briddo Dorth. He's on his way to Ardoth on leave from serving aboard the crystal schooner Champion of Tra, and is already a bit drunk from rusper.

Miniri: the landing platform is like a treehouse hostel; there is no ready access to the forest floor, though you do spot a ladder near a trap door to one side. Probably you could open the trap door and lower the ladder to connect with a ladder that comes partway up the central support for the platform, so that people can climb up or down if they wish to start or end a journey by talmaron. They probably have it pulled up now to discourage night creatures from climbing up to the building.

Yongap immediately ingratiates himself with the travelers by pulling out a bag of herbs and spices to add some flavor to the pibber.

Barragar sits on a mat near the rest of your group and glowers at the others, particularly Elonpo. Some of you barely know Barragar, but you know him well enough to realize that this expression is actually one of polite interest, even if it comes across as hostile.

Gythaar and Vordenir both overhear a bit of conversation between Hentak and Elonpo about making sure "they're safe from thone..."

Jorune lore:
Pibber are small, blobby creatures native to Jorune who live in areas of heavy vegetation. They are sometimes kept as pets, but are usually considered a food source. They resemble small, fuzzy, eyeless thombos. Occasionally, when upset or under the influence of certain moon configuations, pibbers will extend long spikes from their furry coats in a process called thisting. When a pibber thists, watch out! A good mental image of a pibber is of a cross between a shmoo and a hedgehog.

Rusper: probably the most common alcoholic drink on Jorune, by dint of the fact that it is somewhat palatable to the most different races.

Yongap starts up a game to pass the time, inviting anyone else who wishes to play. He does not wager (yet), but he does take a moment to assess any participants while the game progresses.

"So tell me about the Champion of Tra," he says to Briddo Dorth. "It sounds like a lovely ship."

Despite his protestations, Marik is slowly cleaning up at the game of Bipak, which leads everyone to grouchily suspect that he's pulling a fast one on them. While they lose their bits, Yongap talks up the woffen, who is drunk enough now that he doesn't mind the proximity of the crugar...a fact which he makes sure to point out several times during the evening:
"I'm so happy, I don't even mind the smell in this place! Haw haw haw!"
and
"I must be feeling good, since I'm drinking with crugar! Hee-hee!"
and
"Aw, don't look so glum, kitty! Here, have a drink with me! You don't see me looking so upset, and I'm the one who has to look at you!"
and so on.

Yongap does tease a number of bits of information out of the drunken sailor bigot, however. The ship's pilot is Wen Lonson, a severe muadra taskmaster. They're always looking for crew, due to the high turnover on the job. Yongap gets the sense that there's high turnover because of high stress on the job, and not all of that because of Wen's attitude. The Champion of Tra will leave Kaigon, headed north, in two days. Kaigon has become a waypoint on the crystal schooner circuit, particularly as its the closest stop to Ardoth any crystal schooner will come, so there's a schooner stopping in the city every few days.

Vordenir attempts to engage the merchant, Hentak, in conversation, but he seems particularly close-mouthed. Though he talks freely about the difficulties of trade in Burdoth, he provides no details about his own trade affairs. (If there's a particular skill you're trying to use, or an outcome you're trying to achieve, let me know)

Miniri is attentive to Gaul, and he warms to his subject. He seems to be talking about a local warlord or cult leader named Eatoni Gray, and how his forces have spread across the south and western reaches of the forest. An aside from Barragar, however, helps the crugar to realize that what the Iscin is actually talking about is a small flower which he's been researching and logging in his journals. Miniri notes "eatoni gray = small green plant with long stalks and multiple elongated red blooms" in case it might relate to an information search in future.

Hentak admits that he deals in "produce, particularly flowers." Vordenir should give a SOCIAL check.

Eventually, the night draws to a close and everyone retires to their pallets for sleep. The players awaken early enough to see Gaul finish a cold breakfast and then, with the help of the beasters, throw open the trap door, hook up the ladder, and climb down to the forest floor to resume his trek across Glounda. Briddo is miserable this morning, his ears drooping, his eyes bloodshot, his nose running. He's irritable and snappish, and pushes past Hentak and his bodyguard to be the first aloft on a talmaron, winging east towards Ardoth.

He probably won't fall off.

Hentak and Elonpo mount up quickly afterward, and leave with a minimum of discussion, carrying a few small cases west.

The beasters are efficient and mostly cheerful (though a bit brusque with Yongap still) and busily prepare fresh mounts for each of you.

When the ritual is finally finished, the boccord joins the rest of you in line for talmaron mounts.

Once again, you are grateful for the assistance of the beasters in fixing the straps, calming the creatures, and talking you patiently through the diving launch process. You shudder to think what you would do if you had to take off on your own.

You take flight in turn and begin to wing your way further across Glounda Forest west, toward Kaigon.

Each PC should roll a check here, unless you have talmaron handling at Familiar or better (remind me if you do). The check can be:
* talmaron handling (with a -5 bonus modifier to the roll)
* agility check (straight, no modifier)
* strength check (+4 penalty to the roll, as you're basically fighting the talmaron to guide it)

These checks are to determine how well you handle the mounts this second day of flight.

Vordenir is familiar with talmaron from his time in the military and flies with ease, the wind rippling his fur eliciting an involuntary grunt of glee.

Everyone feels confident of his or her flying ability today; you're all old hands at this now.
With that confidence, you set off over the vast forest. Soon all you can see are trees to the horizon in every direction, but Barragar continues to navigate unerringly by the shining orb of Ebba, just visible in the western sky, to continue your group flying in approximately the right direction.

Despite the feeling of vastness of the seemingly endless trees passing by beneath you, you know that this is only the very southern tip of Glounda Forest, which stretches far, far to the north, all the way to the coast, many hundreds of miles from here.

In the early afternoon, gaps in the trees beneath you signal that you are approaching the edge of Glounda. The gaps grow larger, and now only occasional copses are seen as the trees give way to fields, streams, and eventually, pastureland. You are relieved to rejoin the road from Ardoth, as it means that Kaigon (and rest from the arduous tasks of clinging on to a furry bat-lizard's back) is near. Turning north, by mid-afternoon you see the first farms. Within an hour's further flight, the towers of Kaigon rise up in the distance.

This location has long been a stop for talmaron riders within Burdoth, and a trading post and market square built up around the Aerie for local farmers to trade with travelers, and so Kaigon was a significant village. But its location was auspicious for its isho currents as well. It turns out that a natural current of isho flows through Western Burdoth as part of a vast ring encompassing most of the continent. So when Jasp created the crystal schooners, they were able to follow this isho current, and suddenly Kaigon found itself an international port, despite being hundreds of miles inland. Large boarding and cargo towers have been built for the schooners to dock, and it is these that you see first. The rest of the village comes into view, and there's a fair amount of activity at the moment as people from the village attempt to entice visitors from Jasp and elsewhere to buy a little something while in Kaigon. The crystal schooner lashed to one of the boarding towers in enormous, like a small skyrealm floating above the town. Cranes work continuously, loading and unloading crates of supplies and merchandise onto the vehicle.

Your talmarons come into land, obviously eager to be back at a familiar Aerie and eager for a meal after a long day's flight. This Aerie is very similar to the one you stayed in last night, except that the ladder down to the ground seems to be permanently in place, and the person level is unoccupied…any visitors to Kaigon do not stay here any more, but in any of a variety of the more comfortable incleps on the ground that have sprung up since the schooners started coming.

Gythaar and Marik are both Familiar with Kaigon. They know that Kaigon was a small settlement on the road circumventing Glounda between Ardoth and Lusail. In the last decade since the crugar invasion, the dharsage of Burdoth has welcomed thriddle to the nation, and for some reason, thriddle have been fascinated with the lands in the extreme west of Burdoth. As a result, Kaigon was booming even before the arrival of the crystal schooners, just from all the thriddle custom coming through town on the way to and from the settlement they created, Cosahmi, which is somewhere to the west of here. Miniri knows this was well, and has actually been to Cosahmi on querrid missions. Kaigon was selected as a stop on the crystal schooner route over other settlements built on the path of the isho current in part because of the talmaron Aeries built in Kaigon to accommodate all the querrid activity (which has died down a fair amount from the boom days of years ago). Querrids and thriddle still do brisk business in Kaigon, but the big commerce is now connected with the crystal schooners, which bring goods and produce from distant lands for far less money and faster than conventional ocean-going vessels. There is ill-will between the shipping industry of Ardoth (particularly the ocean-dwelling salu, who operate the fastest ships) and the crystal schooner fleet of Jasp, because the Jaspians are cutting into their trade. At the same time, there is also resentment in Ardoth because the Jaspians refuse to fly their schooners into the capitol. Many believe this reluctance is politically motivated, that Jasp does not trust the dharsage to not seize a crystal schooner when it came into his grasp, while others argue that the isho current does not flow to Ardoth.

Vordenir takes the ladder very slowly and carefully, cautious about his bulk buckling the rungs and sending him plummeting. Despite his ease with talmaron, he's never liked climbing down all that much.

While the rest get their bearings, Yongap (who disregards the roll as his Familiar is sufficient) investigates, asking around the town. It's easy to get gossip, and to inquire among the throngs of people involved with serving/loading the crystal schooners whether they've seen anyone matching Luce's description. A porter reveals that someone very much like Luce tipped him a yule to help him get his case aboard the Moon Drifter, the previous crystal schooner to pass through town on its way north, which left yesterday morning.

Each player, make a perception check for your character: either SPOT as it is, or LISTEN with +2 penalty on the roll.

Yongap has determined that someone matching Luce's description boarded the Moon Drifter, which left north on the isho current to Reet yesterday morning.

While they await his return, the rest of the party are moving in a loose bunch through the bustle of the town. Gythaar notices someone familiar in the crowd, and after a moment the crugar recognizes him as Ullis, another tauther he's worked with before. The muadra youth is not being especially furtive, but he has a natural tendency to skulk which drew Gythaar's eye.

Miniri, meanwhile, is looking forward to checking in at the querrid center when she overhears the name "Luce." Uncertain at first that she heard correctly, she pauses, flicking an ear toward the sound as she pantomimes removing a burr stuck in her paw.

She overhears:
(edit to reassert mention that Ullis is muadra)

Vordenir and Marik have become separated from the others for a moment as they cut through an alley that turned out to be a dead end rather than a shortcut. They look sheepishly at each other, shrug, and turn back, but then they overhear this from an open window (while Miniri hears the tail end of it on the other side):
The voices were heard from a shuttered window in a low building, and as they speak, there is the sound of moving furniture and the voices move away from the window and out of earshot.

Marik finds the rest of the group just around the other side of the building; Miniri and the muadra exchange a look and with a glance they both can tell that they both overheard the same thing. Marik knows that the isho current runs north from Kaigon, following the border of the Gauss Valley and the Glounda Forest, proceeding across Lusail and the channel to the island of Reet. Knowing that they're talking about Luce, that probably means the island in question is Reet.

Vordenir waits in the alley, itching to do something, his senses straining to hear something more. But the speakers have moved deeper into the building, two-stories of masonry abutted by neighboring buildings on several sides. The cluster of buildings leaning together make what would look something like an 'H' or a 'K' if seen from above.

Ullis, in the midst of some mischief, frowns slightly. Was that...?

Gythaar springs on the muadra, laughing, and it takes several seconds for Ullis to recover from the shock. Then he tries to shrug it off like he wasn't scared. Gradually his posturing relaxes and soon he's grinning, happy to see a friendly furry face.

Miniri has overheard a lot of chatter while in town, moving through the throng. She hazards a guess that the voices could have referred to the crystal schooner currently docked above Kaigon: Champion of Tra.

Yongap, Gythaar, and Ullis all rejoin the Miniri, Barragar, and Marik. After a few moments, Vordenir appears around the corner, following the wall of the building to try a way to get inside that doesn't involve climbing his bulk through windows.

The crystal schooners are a proprietary innovation of the nation of Jasp (a thousand miles or more to the northwest, past the Doben-Al and Ros Crendor), which has used this ability to develop new trade routes in a vast "ring" that circumnavigates most of the continent (see the map in this post). The primary route is what we would think of as counter-clockwise, heading southwest from Jasp through Temauntro (homeland of the crugar) to Chaln Imagri (Temauntro's capital), then heading southeast across the plains, stopping at various Temauntro ports on its way the sea. It crosses to the island nation of Drail and turns east and crosses a strait to arrive at Tan Iricid (the mountainous island stronghold of the thriddle). From there it turns slightly north to head east by northeast across the West Trinnu Jungle Lands to Anasan (home to many woffen). From there it turns north to cross the East Trinnu Jungle Lands to southern Heridoth. From Heridoth, it turns west again toward Miedrinth in the Sobayid region of southern Burdoth. From Miedrinth it heads north into Gauss Valley here at Kaigon. From Kaigon it continues north across the Lusail region to stop at Reet before turning northwest again to head for Ros Crendor (homeland of the boccord), the Khodres, and finally, Jasp once more. The crystal schooners are the primary industry of the distant northern country of Jasp, which is ice-bound for much of the year.

(edited to add map link and correct typos)

Asking around, you find that the Champion of Tra is doing final loading now, as there is a flurry of activity in Kaigon as passengers hurry to board, last minute shipments are arranged, and courier talmaron are goaded aboard the giant craft, accompanied by shouts and tearful goodbyes. The tower to which the crystal schooner is docked is not far from here; there is enough activity as people rush to participate in the departure that you may have difficulty in covering all the doors from the jumble of buildings (where some of your overheard people talk about Luce) and so seeing everyone who exits. Vordenir has seen three exits to the building, but hasn't gone all the way around it yet. Yongap can confirm that booking passage on the schooner would be done at the tower, as well as spotting anyone being allowed to board, though it would be much more public as everyone's attention appears to be on the tower.

The Jaspian who mans the counter is extremely busy, as people come running up with various shouted demands relating to various types of cargo. It's clear that the ship is preparing to cast off in the next hour or so, so everyone is clamoring for attention. Once you make it clear that you want passage on the Champion of Tra; he informs you that passage from Kaigon to Reet is "eh link eh head" and turns away to tend to someone who is complaining about how his tarro have been loaded. "Ah understant tat tarro and giggit do not mix well, but Ah assure you tat tey are in separate cages and can not reach one anotter"

The Jaspian considers the two diminutive muadra with irritation, shoving someone who is waving documents in his face away from him, and you can see clearly that he's about to growl a refusal. But then he seems to remember something. He takes a second glance at the muadra, appraisingly. Then he looks and sees Vordenir looming nearby. He murmurs to himself. "Ye-e-esss...Daroou is out with the crudge blight..." Then a boccord slams down a head-sized chunk of durlig on the little table in front of him, and they begin to argue loudly about excises.

You can tell that he's on the brink of accepting the offer. If a couple more PCs with bargain or Fast Talk at Familiar - or just one with Fast Talk at Experienced or better - can chime in, he will likely be convinced. If none have that, then two others need to role-play it with successful SOCIAL checks (as Marik did). Other tactics are welcome, too, if you think of something else to try...

The Jaspian swells up with self-importance. Of course he had the good idea - he's a veritable good idea factory! He quickly signs bits of paperwork for each of you and you find yourselves climbing the docking tower to board the Champion of Tra.

The ship looked huge from below, but when you step on deck, it feels like just another city block: a small square in the center, surrounded by some low buildings. The only things that break the illusion are the wind whipping past you in gusts, the masts with sails, and the large crane on the tower that is still hoisting up crates and cages of cargo. Another Jaspian meets you at the top of the tower and escorts you on board. "Sailor!!!!" he calls out, and a woffen clambers down the rigging, drops to the deck and lopes up, panting slightly. "Take these new hands to the crew quarters, find them cabins, and then bring them back on deck to assist with the cargo!"

The woffen leads you through a maze of various stacks of cargo (some stacks hiss and warble at you as you pass) to one of the low buildings. "I'm Renno!" the woffen huffs to you. He's clearly grateful to get a break from his normal duties to this soft work of showing you around, but he's still slightly out of breath. Within the building are a few floors of crew cabins; each cabin is a large open hall with rows of rope cots lining each wall. He finds you open cots several rows down on the second floor. Each cot has a footlocker. Renno says "Leave your things here" as he grabs an armful of mats and starts flinging the mats down onto a cot for each of you.

Having finished with the mats, Renno grunts "Follow me" and leads you back downstairs and out into the street...er, onto the deck. Some of you who've heard of crystal schooners before had always heard how they were modeled on the salu chausis: sleek, aerodynamic hulls dominated by vast sails. This does have the sails, but the rest of the ship? It's like someone lifted a quay from Ardoth and hoisted it into the sky...

The wind ruffles the fur of the various Iscin races in sporadic gusts. You reach a spot not far from where you entered: close to a mast and fairly close to the edge where a crane is depositing cargo net loads. Renno, his ears swiveling to follow different sounds, asks for volunteers for different jobs: "I need people aloft to help with the sails, and I need people working to set and secure the cargo. Who wants what?"

Renno gives a brief, piercing howl (woffen jaws are not made for whistling) to get the attention of some others working the cargo. A giant, scaled humanoid lumbers over after swinging the boom arm of the crane back out into the open space above Kaigon. Ten feet tall at the shoulder, its long toothy jaws curved into an easy smile, he growls "YYYAHH?"

Renno looks up at the corastin and says, really loudly: "Lej, these are new deckhands, here to help you with the boxes!" Then he turns to Ullis, Miniri, and Gythaar and says in a more normal volume "Lej will show you what to do. I've gotta make sure none of them break their necks! See you later!" The woffen runs and jumps, grabbing onto the mast already climbing, to catch up with Marik, Yongap, Barragar, and Vordenir.

Those on the mast, do Climbing checks to get up there (or something else, if you can explain how its applicable).

Lej stares down at you with small black eyes like stones. You realize that the smiling expression is just the angle of its very long jaws; it can't really have another expression. But you prefer to interpret all those very long teeth as smiling. It turns and rumbles "KKAAAAAHH!" while beckoning with its large, clawed hand. Arriving at a small open space between stacked piles of cargo, it points to one side: "KKRAAATESSSS" and then to the other: "KKAAATCHISSSS" Then it stomps off to the crane, where a team of boccord are struggling mightily with a winch to haul up another net full of cargo. Lej hauls on the boom as soon as the net clears the deck, and the huge mass of netted cargo swings towards you.

Those on deck that are working cargo: do checks to avoid the massive bulk, using whichever characteristic or skill makes sense to you.

Vordenir and Barragar race each other up the mast. Neither they nor Marik are able to make much headway, though they do struggle upwards slowly. Clearly they need practice. Yongap, on the other hand, takes to the ropes like a monkey and is quickly scampering around with Renno, who gives delighted little yips in between shouted directions to the sailors who are unfurling the vast swathes of canvas.

Ullis ducks under the crates as they pass overhead, then stands on the other side and catches the rope, helping to guide it to a stop along with Gythaar, who stepped to the side to avoid the swinging mass. Miniri attempts to dodge the ponderous collection of crates, boxes, chests and other containers piled up in the cargo net, but she's smack in the middle of its path, so she instead leaps and catches the net with all fours. The impact takes her breath away for a moment, and she rides the swinging items for a few yards until it comes to a stop...mostly from the efforts of Lej, rather than from any effect Gythaar or Ullis had. Lej stomps over and waits politely while Miniri extracts her claws from the rope and steps down. He then reaches up and unhooks one end of the rope from the hook on the boom, and the crates thump to the deck. He begins to move the crates and boxes to one side, and then putting the containers containing living creatures - the cages - to the other side.

The work is hard, and the ship's pilot, Wen Lonson, is as severe a muadra as you've ever seen. Thankfully, you are beneath Wen's notice most of the time, as Renno and Lej watch over your work. You learn the ropes before too long: stacking crates, positioning cages, unfurling sheets, tying down lines, swinging booms...this all comes pretty naturally to Yongap, but the others quickly get the hang of the basics. Finally, the cargo is secured, the wind ripples in the sheets, and even each of you can feel that the crystal ship is straining at the dock to take off sailing across the sky.

At sunset, Wen Lonson's order comes to cast off, and you all work to coil rope for a time while the towers of Kaigon dwindle to the south. Renno explains that the wind is always from the south in the evening, around this part of the continent, so evenings are a time of reduced duty in rotation. At other times you'll have to be working hard, tacking to keep the crystal ship moving along at a speed needed to arrive in Reet in time and on schedule. It quickly gets cold this high above the ground, and Wen allows the off-duty crew to light several braziers on clear areas of the deck for idle crew and passengers to warm themselves and drink some hot rusper as the stars wheel by overhead.

It is while you are warming yourself at a brazier that first night, trying to keep warm enough that your overworked muscles don't get too stiff, that Miniri hears and Marik sees that some people very like Hentak and Elonpo - the merchant and bodyguard - are passengers aboard the ship. They both recall their conversation that Vordenir had with the merchant back at the talmaron aerie, and their bronth companion confirms that it is indeed the same man (once they point Hentak out to Vordenir). Strange...but perhaps he sold all his wares at Kaigon in a day, and is now traveling north to Reet with a new shipment of goods to sell?

The night is cold and clear, affording you unobstructed views of the stars and the seven moons shining down from above. Aside from the chill winds, there is very little sense of motion aboard this "ship," as it is so enormous. The sense of vertigo is you approach the edge is alarming, because the ship is actually scudding along quite fast, augmenting the speed of the isho flow with a prevailing northern wind billowing the full sails.

At one point shortly before you retire for bed, Wen Lonson calls most hands into the rigging. You all furl the sails while the larger members of the crew - including Lej, Barragar, and Vordenir - swing the booms to tack the vessel west. It turns out that the Champion was overtaking a small skyrealm. In the end, the maneuver wasn't necessary, as the vessel floated up higher and passed above the tallest trees on the skyrealm, in addition to some distance to the west of it. This caused an uncomfortable queasy sensation in your stomachs which you've never felt before this. Looking down and to the right, those of you in the rigging were able to get a good look at the skyrealm; it's a newer one because you can still see that water spills over the edge from ice the remains on the taller crags near the center of the floating island. Most of it is covered with vegetation, and you see the flashes of some light deep within the trees, followed by a bellow from some creature still on the skyrealm. Afterward, Wen has to reverse the process, tacking back east as the ship settles again to a lower altitude.

Wen Lonson rouses you the next morning for your shift. You spend the day doing various tasks familiar to Yongap: braiding, tarring and coiling rope; checking the cargo; adjusting the sails; washing the deck; and so forth. Of the working of the ship that causes it to levitate on the isho winds there is no sign, though Marik would have expected caji to be involved. It's possible that it's hidden.

There's also tasks that are unique to the crystal ship. There is an open invitation for sailors and crew who have a facility with ranged weapons to shoot the Giar, a sightless native flying creature that likes to roost in the rigging of crystal ships. They're edible, so bagging them can augment the ship's stores, but mostly they're a nuisance, scavenging food and leaving droppings on anything below. There's also a roost of talmaron that must be tended; these are used in cases of emergency for conveying messages, or for crew to fetch water or other supplies in places where there is no docking tower for the crystal ship itself.

So, for this first night and day aboard ship, you may provide
a) what crew task you are working on aboard ship (particularly if they relate to skills/foci or character interactions). These do not need to be limited to what I've described above, if something else occurs to you that seems reasonable.
and
b) what thing you do in your off-duty time (also relating to skills/foci or character interactions).

Basically, you can describe two things you do, but one should be related to your work on the crew, and if there's a skill involved, name it. If a roll is needed, I'll let you know.

Once he relaxes enough to stop looking over his shoulder, Yongap falls easily back into the routine of Sailing. His ease with the work makes quick friends with Renno and some of the other rough-around-the-edges crew, though Wen Lonson never seems satisfied with anyone. Wen doesn't like the crew mingling with the passengers, but Yongap is able to leverage his camaraderie into some games of Whellak, a gambling game he learned from some salu years before and which few of these Jaspians know.Miniri tries to appeal to Wen Lonson's better nature, wheedling for softer work. This does not curry favor with the other crew members, needless to say. So they are skeptical if not downright rude when the genteel crugar offers to tell them a story. But her unexpected charm and deft skill with a tale leave an impression on the crew. Aside from the ever-suspicious and disapproving Wen Lonson, none of the crew have any particular interest in her background, and so she doesn't need to do more than she has done to distract them from asking about her motives for joining the crew.Marik spends his time literally learning the ropes from the rest of the crew. Even though they are pretty different, the rest of the crew sort of lumps Marik and Yongap together as "those little guys." Marik's eagerness to learn coupled with Yongap's camaraderie with the more gruff and grizzled crew results in Marik's being accepted by some of the crew, too. Renno introduces the muadra caji to many of the crew; Marik takes mental notes as to who might have useful skills or information he could learn in future. While on duty, Marik spends time (when he can avoid the fish-eye of Wen Lonson) watching the Gauss Valley roll past underneath the ship, exhilarating at seeing familiar geography from this unusual perspective. He's flown on occasion, but always before it's been on talmaron, and the view there is obstructed by wings and constant flapping motion. By contrast, the view from the rigging is serene and Marik can appreciate the scenery. Gythaar climbs even more nimbly through the rigging, his eyes taking in as much of land and sky as he can while being worked hard by the brutal Wen Lonson. He can see clouds form and dissipate, and gets an inkling of how the moons interact with the isho, which influences the physical weather as well as the isho weather. Unfortunately, Gythaar doesn't have the social graces exhibited by Miniri, and many of the Jaspian crew barely contain their anti-crugar prejudice.As night falls and their shifts end, Barragar prepares to lead the others on a little excursion...

Yongap demonstrates the gambling game Whellak to a number of the crew, taking three dice, everyone betting on the outcome, and then rolling. At first he demonstrates how poor bets on unlikely combinations mean adding more yules to the pot, but then he adds the rules about doubles to the patter - doubles add the capability of placing a second, side bet on a reroll of the odd die being higher or lower than the doubles - which is enough to fascinate the Jaspians. Renno and a human named Vex in particular get particularly hooked on "just one more roll" after the muadra lets them win a couple of big pots in the beginning, so much so that Yongap is able to lightly fleece the crew to the tune of 2 links, 6 yules by the end of the night. Sadly, what he gets from the crew during this gambling between Miniri's clearly hilarious stories (although Renno doesn't find the bit about woffen armpits all that funny, he guffaws with the rest when she describes her broken arm and dung fur) is a lot of political gossip and rude jokes about various kesht and keshtia back in Jasp, rather than anything particularly interesting. Still, the money is a nice addition.

Wen is unexpectedly delighted with Miniri's entertainment. Apparently he once had a lover himself who was a learsis working in a trauma center, and your story has made him nostalgic for past days. In the coming days, he has much softer work for Miniri. Every time he comes near, she fears that he's going to change his mind, but invariably it's only to awkwardly ask for details about Miniri's muadra lover. The crugar is able to walk the line of tact and lurid detail that the muadra first mate seems to want. Miniri doesn't identify with the awkwardness of muadra mating customs (or human, for that matter), but she realizes that, in the span of weirdness encompassed by all the sentients of Jorune, they're not all that different. At least they're mammals, after all.

Gythaar finds that he enjoys climbing in the rigging; there's something viscerally satisfying about sinking his claws into wood and climbing aloft to get a higher vantage over others. It's too bad Wen Lonson is such a harsh taskmaster. Though he seems to have chosen Miniri as his favorite, he is heaping all the more scut work on the rest of the sailors. Still, as long as the crugar condrij is obedient and gets his work done, the puny muadra Wen leaves Gythaar alone for the most part. Thinking of his distant family and how much Aki would enjoy the ride, there are also moments during the day when Gythaar feels traces of religious awe as the ship soars above the fields and forests of the fertile Gauss Valley. His sister, Sayomi, developed a passion for Iscinism early in life, and he's heard many times about how Iscin, the first crugar, came from the very same lush and verdant land that the ship is crossing now. That's the big reason why Temauntro will never give up trying to invade Burdoth, of course: Gauss is the land from which all crugar sprang, as well as the site of the betrayal of the human, Bomoveris. Many crugar do not wish to leave peaceably with the humans, but will only visit the Gauss Valley as conquerors.

Gythaar muses on these things when aloft in the rigging, but as he's working on deck, he recognizes another veteran of the wars, the grizzled old woffen, Jatix. A fisherman from Allidoth to the northeast of Ardoth, Jatix saved Gythaar's life a couple of times when the fighting with the ramian got particularly heavy. Every veteran had his peccadilloes. Jatix had taken a boathook off of its pole, sharpened it, and wore it on a thong around his neck. It was by this that Gythaar recognized him, so changed is the woffen in the intervening years. Now shrunken and leathery, with thinning fur and a perpetual squint, Jatix works silently and persistently at his tasks, not obviously recognizing his crugar comrade-in-arms.

Centered in the sho-caudal (what the native shanthas call the isho wind) and with a winning combination of humility and curiosity, Marik finds making friends fairly easy. The gruff old muadra sailor Agnar is happy to have an attentive audience, and takes opportunities to lecture the caji on topics various and sundry, which basking in an increasing pride to know a caji like Marik personally. The human sailor Vex is fascinated to have learned Whellak from Yongap, though he's a bit grumpy about losing money. He's picked Marik as a willing practice stooge to get a better handle on the odds of the game through repeated practice. The massive bronth Targus, of course, reminds Marik of his old friend Varyck in the way that the warlike Vordenir completely does not. When they are out of likely earshot of either Wen, Miniri, or Gythaar, Targus regales Marik with tales of his smuggling Iscin creatures out of Temauntro...sometimes on this very ship!

But through all this and all the work being done aboard ship, Marik is constantly aware of the glaring eyes of Elvar. During a break early on the first full day, Elvar rudely interrupts a game of Whellak to pull Marik aside. "What are you doing here? You're wasting your time. This is my ship, you don't belong here! And you can forget any plan to curry favor with the captain - he's already said he's going to mark my challisk!"

Elvar subsides, but continues to shoot dark looks at Marik every chance he gets throughout the next day, clearly nursing his old resentment.

Over the course of the next day, it becomes clear that Xentak and Elonpo are deeply engrossed in some affair of their own, and neither of them notice or recognize any of the PCs as being the strangers they met in the talmaron aerie days ago...unless some PC introduces himself, of course.

As the next day draws to a close, the ship continues north while the Gauss Valley turns to the west. The crystal schooner begins to rise with the isho current, following the contours of the terrain as it rises into the range of low mountains that separate the Gauss region from Lusail (map here).

Anyone watching Hentak and Elonpo as best you can while performing your duties as the evening progresses, make a roll against your SPOT or LISTEN (your preference).

Sure; there's been plenty of time for Barragar to point out that they're not what they said they were back at the Aerie.

Gythaar succeeds at his lining up the vistas with what he knows of the border between the Gauss and Lusail regions of Burdoth, well enough that he could find their exact position on a map. He is so busy with that, however, that he doesn't notice what the others do.

Marik notices Elonpo catch Agnar's eye during one of the old muadra's lectures. Agnar loses his train of thought for a moment, nods at Elonpo, and covers the interruption with an awkward cough before continuing on about how the Maustin Caji have made it worse for honest, hard-working muadra all over Burdoth. After a few minutes, Wen Lonson arrives and gives both of you the fish eye until you find something better to do.

From up in the rigging, Yongap sees Hentak in a long conversation with Lej, in a space made private by the expedience of Hentak directing Lej to set down a stack of crates in just the right spot to block them from observation from anyone else on deck. This extended conversation is also curious, because Lej has struck you as just about anything except talkative. It's mostly Hentak doing the talking, however. Hentak finishes the conversation by handing the corastin a sack of something, which disappears completely in his gargantuan fist. Yongap manages to duck back behind the mast and Hentak either doesn't look up or just doesn't notice that he was observed. Lej hefts the stack of crates again and trundles off to put them in their proper place, and Hentak saunters back to rejoin Elonpo at the bow of the ship, looking north.

It is later in the evening that Miniri creeps along a path between crates, paralleling Elonpo on the other side. She hears him stop and greet someone. "Good to see you. Have you thought about my offer?" The other voice is quiet, but her keen ears can still make out the words: "Yeah, I'll have them ready for you on the port side, and I'll make sure that Renno isn't watching." Elonpo responds: "Yes? Then here's the first part." There is a click-click of crystals exchanging hands. Elonpo: "When we're done tonight, you'll get the rest of it." The other voice responds: "When?" Elonpo: "I told you: tonight. We've got to make up the difference; he's getting too far ahead. Expect us by the time Desti rises." With that, Elonpo leaves, his boots clomping loudly. His companion is much quieter, and makes no sound leaving.

Each of you are off-shift later that night, and join one another to visit while having a late supper. Barragar, Vordenir, and Ullis all did not notice anything, but they're eager to know if any of you did.

The party is gathered together in their crew quarters, sharing what they've seen about Hentak and Elonpo.

Vordenir responds to Miniri. "Yes, it does sound like sabotage."

Barragar adds: "Whatever it is, I think they're up to something bad. So...what do we do about it? Inform the rest of the crew? Wen would probably like to know about Lej, and he'd certainly want to know that someone was planning sabotage...unfortunately, we don't know who Miniri heard talking with Elonpo. Or we could just take care of it ourselves...?"

Ullis looks back and forth between the boccord and the bronth with wide eyes, seemingly cowed by their intensity and great size.

Vordenir takes Gythaar and Miniri aside. "I think we should take turns watching the port side of the ship. Miniri, you heard something about something being "ready on the port side;" I figure we'll see something if we keep our eyes open between the three of us."

By now, it is late night. Ullis has gone aloft, subtly interviewing sailors in the rigging. Yongap has remained on deck, talking to sailors as they come off shift while appearing busy every time he feels the humorless gaze of Wen Lonson turned in his direction. Lej is not much of a conversationalist, but Yongap hears enough to satisfy himself that it wasn't the corastin plotting with Elonpo - his thoughts are too simple and his ability to express himself in Entren too limited. Figuring the woffen knows his crewmates better than newcomers could, Yongap talks to Renno, asking him about the crew. He figures the woffen is not a suspect, because Miniri would have recognized the voice. Renno is not particularly eloquent, but he enjoys talking, and Yongap overwhelms him with a flow of conversation. With occasional probing questions, Yongap gleans some information: there are a bunch of old-timers on the crew such as Lej and Agnar, and a few relative newcomers like Vex (the newest deckhand, who started aboard the ship at the beginning of this trip in Jasp) and Elvar (who signed on in Kaigon the previous trip, three months ago). Elvar is a toady (though Renno refers to him as a "beagre") who has been currying favor with the Captain, despite the Captain rarely showing his face abovedecks (none of the PCs have even seen the Captain). Vex is tolerable, though prone to occasional fits of rage, so Renno advises giving the human a wide berth.

Miniri, meanwhile, has collared Targus over near the port side of the ship. The bronth is laconic, which in his case comes off as wisdom rather than stupidity. He's been on the crew a long time and has pithy comments on each crewmember.
Wen's stern but fair. Agnar is tired and sick.

From the moment Barragar stepped out of the cabin, Marik had a hard time following him. The shadow warrior is like a ghost, moving improbably silently for someone so large. Marik quickly finds his stride and is able to move very quietly in the boccord's wake. They make their way to a stern hatch and slide belowdecks for the first time. Barragar had watched the traffic in and out of the hatches and suspected that the passenger cabins would be close at hand. The Captain you've heard about presumably resides below, as well as Wen Lonson. Regular sailors such as yourselves have no business being belowdecks unless they've been given explicit directions to do so by an officer. Wen has just come out when you slip through the door behind him. A long corridor stretches before you both, with doors to staterooms on either side. There are five doors on each side, and then a door at the opposite end, at least 100' away from you.

It's a dull night for Gythaar and Vordenir as they work the sails and keep an eye on the port side of the ship. Gythaar doesn't notice at first, but the bronth catches his eye and wags his snout down where a figure stands with a bridled talmaron near the port rail.

Miniri and Yongap find each other and share their information on the deck. Ullis drops down next to them from a creaking spar overhead. He hisses "Someone's been busy!" and nods his head to the talmaron enclosure, which is now empty.

Meanwhile, above and several meters to port, Vordenir and Gythaar see the shadowy figure joined by another, leading another bridled talmaron to the port rail.

Marik and Barragar each silently open opposite doors. Marik sees an empty cabin, small but comfortable, and so neat that it's either not used or belongs to the prissy Wen Lonson himself. Barragar emerges from the door opposite and whispers: "Sleeping passengers." Just then, the door three down on the left (the fourth door) opens and a heavily armed human steps out. The human gives a barely perceptible pause at the sight of them, then walks casually toward them. It's Elonpo himself.

Elonpo's shoulders tense as you greet him, then he frowns at your use of his name. His eyes roll for a moment, as he tries to place where he knows you. Clearly, his mind was elsewhere. But then he places you: "Ah, yes, from the flight from Burdoth..." He continues to approach, smiling now. "What an incredible coincidence, to see you here! I'm on my way to Jasp. Are you bound for Jasp, too? I haven't seen you on the ship until now. Where have you been? Let's talk about it up in the fresh air..."

The man clanks with weapons, but he seems reassured by your greeting, completely at ease. He moves past you, leading the way to the stairs up to the deck.

As the human warrior saunters past, Marik notices a bit of blood spattered on the man's arm. Barragar does not react to this: either he's not paying attention or he's presenting a placid mask. At the bottom of the stairs, Elonpo turns and inquires: "Coming?